Pre-fabricated utility building assembly



Dec. 7, 1965 G. TOGNI 3,221,454

PRE-FABRIGATED UTILITY BUILDING ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 30, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 7, 1965 G. TOGNI 3,221,454

FEE-FABRICATED UTILITY BUILDING ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 30, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IwNTOR.

3,221,454 PRE-FABRICATED U'lilLiTY BUILDING ASSEMBLY Giulio Togni, 31 Via Aurelio Togni, Milan, Italy Filed Ian. 30, 1961, Ser. No. 85,904 2 Claims. (El. 52-220) This invention generally relates to improvements in utility assemblies for building construction, and it has particular reference to an improved utility assembly which is adapted to be pie-fabricated in large quantities as a factory item and to be mounted bodily and embedded Within a building structure in particular within superimposed portion walls thereof, and which embodies the common household plumbing and sanitary service plumbing ducts, connections and service appliances.

It is known to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains that in any modern building structure a plurality of ducts for supplying water to the various bathrooms, toilets, lavatories and kitchens, and for collecting and disposing waste therefrom are provided. Preferably the plumbing utility building systems provided in modernly planned building constructions include ventilation ducts too, connected to the waste disposing piping system. Such various ducts are in general vertically arranged in the building throughout several superimposed fioors thereof. The various service appliances, namely bathtubs, lavatories, toilet bowls in bathrooms, are supplied with water by means of suitable valves and faucets connected to the supply vertical ducts by means of suitably connection piping, and likewise a plurality of further connection pipings are provided for connecting the drain outlets of said appliances to be ventilating and the waste disposing other vertical ducts. According to the modern tendency, such vertical and connecting ducts and piping are desired to be fully concealed and embedded within partition walls.

Such arrangement leads to high labor costs and to very accurate workmanship for properly connecting, locating and neatly covering the various ducts and pipings in the partition walls, ready for connection with the various appliances and tubs. In general, the drainage of toilets and of bathtubs require the location of at least a portion of the pipings and ducts connected thereto beneath the bathroom floor, and further labor and material costs are involved therewith.

I am aware that several arrangements and structures had been heretofore proposed for a more advantageous arrangement of such supply and drain systems in build ing constructions, namely in utility building core, prefabricated core units wherein the various pipings, connections and appliances are embodied. Such known constructions had been however not proved as fully satisfying both in View of the rather complicated structure therefore and in consideration of the fact that such prior units admit only one defined arrangement of the various appliances in the household arrangement.

Having the above and other considerations in mind, it is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved factory pre-fabricated and transportable self-containing utility assembly which is not subject to the above objections, and which may be easily arranged in the building frame structure before the construction of the partition walls thereof, the assembly of the invention being adapted itself to form a part of such partition walls to which at least a part of the bathrooms several appliances are to be adjacently arranged and to include the various water supply and drain systems related thereto,

Another object of this invention is to provide a new improved utility assembly as above, including a skeleton frame structure housing, supporting, in assembly there- United States Patent C with, substantially vertically arranged duct means adapted to be connected to and to form parts of the said vertically arranged supply, drain and ventilating ducts extending through the several floors of the building, the several pipe connection of said ducts with the tub, toilet and lavatory means to be installed and with the hot Water furnishing and supply means, if any, and further provided with supporting means for supporting at least part of such service means of the face of the said partition wall portion embodied by that assembly.

A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved factory prefabricated self-contained utility assembly which permits a substantial saving in the cost of labor and of materials either in its factory manufacture and the construction, furnishing and neatly finishing of the home, namely of bathrooms thereof. While the assembly produced according to the invention has been herein referred to as designed for service of home or household buildings, it will be obvious that such reference is not intended as limiting the useful application of this invention, as it will readily be understood that such assemblyshould be advantageously made use of in differing fields, said for hotels, colleges, and other accommodations for people.

In a further aspect of this invention, the utility assembly includes a hollow upright skeleton frame structure having at least one vertical major face thereof adapted for supporting a bathroom side wall portion thereon and for supporting a toliet bowl and/or a bidet bowl, said bowl or bowls having brace means connected thereto or integrally formed therewith for connection with and supporting of such bowl or bowls in centilever arrangement in respect to said bathroom side wall portion, in spaced relationship with the bathroom floor, and pipe and pipe connection means for connecting the water supply appliances and the drain manifolds of said bowl or bowls to the duct means arranged inside said frame structure above the said floor, whereby the floor surface of the said bathroom will not be traversed or otherwise altered by the installation and servicing of said bowl or bowls, thus admitting a further substantial saving in the cost of labor and building material, and admitting also a substantial reduction of the thickness of the building fioor structure, wherein no waste collecting and exhaust duct will therefore have to be located.

The novel features of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. The present invention itself however, both as to its construction and to its mode of connection with household utility appliances and together with further objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood by way of illustration and example by the following detailed description of a preferred form of embodiment thereof, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, forming an essential component of this disclosure, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the pre-fabricated and partly unsheathed assembly taken diagonally from two sides, together with a toilet and a bidet designed to be associated therewith;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical elevational view of the unsheathed utility assembly of the invention, wherein the several cold and hot water supply means are evidenced in the drawing by more markedly drafted lines;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but wherein the drain and ventilating duct and pipe means are evidenced; and

FiGURE 4 is a perspective exploded view of the detail of an example of an embodiment of a bidet bowl adapted for connection with the assembly of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing, wherein like reference 3 numerals refer to like parts and elements throughout the several figures:

The present utility unit or assembly, which constitutes the exemplary embodiment of the invention, comprises generally an upright skeleton frame structure generally indicated at and comprising preferably L-shaped and/or of T-shaped iron posts and cross-bars such as upright beams 114) and transverse beams 11, respectively and adapted to form at its front face a portion 12 (FIGS. 1 and 4) of a partition wall adjacent to the bathroom or other service room wherein the various plumbing fixtures and water supplied appliances are installed. Preferably the frame structure comprises at least one additional transverse beam 112. Such wall portion may be preferably formed by providing the front face of said framing with a metal screen 12a, as seen in FIG. 3, or with another sheath or sheet cover material adapted to receive and support a layer of plaster which in turn may be adapted for application of a layer of tiles or other materials adapted for wall covering. In fact, the said front face of the assembly of the invention is designed to be located flush with the neighboring surface of a partition wall and to form a part thereof as to its plastering and covering.

Preferably, an opening 13 (FIG. 1) is provided in the said front face 12, adapted to be closed by means of a suitable door or removable cover plate (not shown). Such opening is positioned for operation and control of a main service valve 14 (FIG. 2) connected in the supply piping coming from the water supply main duct 15 (FIGS. 1 and 2) of a water meter 16 (FIGS. 1 and L2), and of a trap-pot 17 (FIGS. 1 and 3) connected along the drain piping.

In the form of embodiment shown, the assembly of the invention is designed for servicing a bidet, a toilet (generally indicated at 18 and 19, respectively, in FIG. 1), a lavatory and a bathtub (not shown) and, in addition, to be connected to a conventionally constructed and operated electric water-heater (not shown). Such assembly is therefore provided with a plurality of piping and of pipe connections adapted for attachment of such appliances to the assembly. According to a preferred aspect of this invention, the said utility assembly is further designed to support the said bidet 18 and the said toilet 19 above the bathroom floor and for connecting the drain manifold thereof to the building waste disposal and water drain system by means of duct means located also above the floor.

To support the said bidet and toilet, the said frame structure 10 of the utility assembly of the invention is provided with substantially horizontal pins or screw bolts 20 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 4) welded to the frame crossbars such as the additional transverse beam 112 and arranged for extending outside the covering of the said front face 12. Such pins 20 are preferably screw-threaded and adapted for fixedly connecting braces 21 (FIGS. 1 and 4) thereto, said braces being designed and shaped to support the bowls 22 and 23 of bidet 18 (FIGS. 1 and 4) and of toilet 19 (FIG. 1), respectively. The said braces may be of metal and provided with a suitable conventional lacquer covering. Such braces may be, if desired, made integral with the respective bidet and/ or toilet bowl.

The rear attachment portions of said braces 21 may be covered and concealed by means of removable cover means 24 (FIGS. 1 and 4), if desired. Other attachment means may be provided for further water supplied appliances and devices. For example, while the form of embodiment shown is intended for supplying and servicing a separately supported lavatory (not shown), such lavatory might be connected to and supported by the same frame structure of the assembly, by means of suitably shaped braces substantially corresponding to braces 21 and located at a proper level. Further, pins may in such case be provided on the assembly front face for supporting such further devices.

According to an essential feature of the invention, the utility assembly is provided with all piping required for full service of the several above listed devices, i.e. for supplying same with cold and with hot water (except the toilet, of course, which is supplied with cold water only), for draining waste water therefrom and, preferably, for connecting the respective drain pipings with a ventilating duct. The supply pipe system will be particularly described with reference to FIG. 2.

At the outlet of the said water-meter 16 a primary pipe 25 is connected and to said primary pipe line further secondary pipes 26 and 27 are connected, leading to the cock 28 of the bathtub (not shown) and to the cock 29 of the bidet, respectively. The said secondary pipe 26 extends at both sides of the assembly for supplying cold water to the cock 3% of the lavatory (not shown). A further connection of said pipe 26 to another pipe 31 is provided for supplying cold water to further devices, say to a shower, for example, (not shown). Still further connections may be obviously made to the said cold water supply system and, essentially, a further pipe 32 may be connected to said secondary pipe 26 for supplying cold water to the inlet of a conventionally constructed water-heater (not shown), which might be located in the same bathroom or in an adjacent room. Of course further connections may be provided for supplying water to further devices, for example to a kitchen sink, to laundry tubs, washing machines, dishwashers, and so on. Preferably such further connections are converted to the described supply pipes at locations outside the utility framing.

The outlet of the water-heater (not shown) is supposed to be connected to a pipe 33 leading to further pipings, namely to a hot water supply secondary pipe 34, and connected to the various hot water cocks 35 of the bathtub, 36 of the bidet, 37 of the lavatory, and by means of a further pipe 38, to the said above suggested water supplied devices in the same bathroom or in other service rooms. The toilet water supply is preferably directly connected to the main supply duct 15, by means of a pipe 39 having a control valve 46 connected thereto.

The drain and sewage system included in the utility assembly, in the structure of the preferred embodiment shown, is designed to connect all drain and waste disposing means of the various devices to a substantially vertical main building drain and sewage duct and to a substantially vertical main ventilating duct. Such drain and sewage system is partly illustrated in FIG. 3.

The assembly includes a drain and sewage manifold 41 and a ventilation manifold 42, designed to form a length of the said vertical main drain and sewage duct and of the said vertical main ventilation duct of the building, respectively, and provided with lower (not shown) and upper couplings at 43 and 44, respectively, for connection thereof with adjacent conventionally constructed and installed duct lengths. The drain pipes connected to the outlets of bidet, bathtub, lavatory and correspondingly operating devices are connected to the said drain and sewage manifold 41 through the said trap-pot 17, which may be cleaned from time to time through the said opening 13 (FIG. 1) on the assembly front face 12.

The drain system includes pipes or secondary drain ducts 45 and 46 converging into the said trap 17 and connected to the bottom drain 47 of the bidet and to the drain 48 of the bathtub, respectively. A further secondary drain duct or pipe 49 directly connected to drain and sewage manifold is connected to the drain 50 of the lavatory (not shown), and still further drain pipes and connections may be provided for draining of further devices, if any. It will be apparent from FIG. 3 that the said drain pipes 45 and 49 are provided with siphon forming up-turned elbow portions 51 and 52, respectively, and that further ventilatron pipes 53 and 54, respectively, are connected to said pipes 45 and 49 at their elbows 51 and 52 for connecting such drain means to the ventilation duct 42. The said drain and sewage manifold 41 has a branch having a conventionally shaped coupling means suitably constructed for connection to the waste outlet of the toilet 19 (FIG. 1), above the toilet or bathroom floor.

The above described utility assembly of the invention is particularly designed to be advantageously installed and made use of as briefly summarized below:

As it will be readily understood by a consideration of FIGS. 1 and 2, the assembly includes a skeleton frame structure defining a space adapted to occupy and to embody a portion of a partition wall adjacent to at least one bathroom or other service room provided with water supplied devices. A part of the various supply and drain pipe means included in the assembly are located inside said space and a part extends outside same space. Such extending part includes, namely, the pipes designed to be connected to a lavatory, a bathtub, a Water heater and so on. The described assembly may therefor be considered as including a standard block portion (defined within the frame structure and non-standard outer portions. The assembly may be economically pre-fabricated as a mass produced factory item, even if provided with outward extending pipe lengths of differing dimensions, as required for each differing application and according to differing household requirements and architects plans. The assembly of the invention may be therefore further defined as a surprisingly advantageous compromise of a standard mass produced factory item and a custom-built structure, including custom defined variables which affect the outer portions only, namely the length of the pipes extending outside the said framing, i.e. structural parts whose variation does not noticeably prejudice the economy of factory manufacture of the utility assembly.

The said assembly, as furnished by the factory, is mounted in the building structure before the construction of the conventional masonry partition walls, and located in superimposed arrangement in the various floors of the building Where the vertical water supply, drain and sewage and ventilation ducts or columns are to be constructed. Such vertical ducts are then formed by interconnecting by means of suitable pipe and manifold lengths the said pipe and manifold lengths (FIGS. 1 and 2), 41 and 42 (FIGS. 1 and 3) included in the assembly. The various masonry made partition walls are then built-up about and flush with the assembly and the various pipes extending thereform, and the plastering and tile or otherwise covering of the said partition walls will be extended on the coplanar front face of the assembly of the invention. The end portions and couplings of the various pipes and ducts will remain at their desired locations for connection of the various cocks, drain outlets and other appliances successively located at the locations defined by the architects plan.

The above described utility assembly of the invention may be produced and assembled by making use of ferrous ware and blanks, either in the various frame components and in its various duct and pipe component. Each and every connection may be made by welding so that all the piping circuitry may be surely made leakproof and pressure resistant. The fully assembled structure, provided with its various threadings and couplings for connection to the differing cocks, drain outlets and so on, is then preferably fully zinc plated or otherwise galvanized or protected, preferably by immersing the same into a bath of molten zinc. Alternatively, such assemblage on ferrous components and framing means and the plating of the assembled structure may be performed before the as semblage of all or of part of the components of the drain and sewage and of the ventilation ducts, if the provision of plastic or of ceramic components are desired.

The above described structure might be obviously modified for meeting differing requirements. For example, double-face utility assemblies may be provided for servicing two adjacent bathrooms or other service rooms, say a laundry, a kitchen, and so on, located at both sides of one partition Wall wherein the utility assembly is intended to be located, Further, one or more dependent assemblies may be located co-planarly or angularly adjacent parent utility assembly as above described and including the main building water supply, drain, sewage and ventilation (if any) ducts, and connected thereto for water supply, drain, sewage and ventilation. Such dependent assemblies may be in turn embedded into ceiling-high partition Walls or wall panel or title covered to form lower partition walls defined by the size of the assembly only.

It is believed to be evident that the invention provides a plurality of advantageous features, and it will be understood that each of the new features described and shown and any combination thereof may also find useful application in other utility assemblies or units differing from the one described.

Without further consideration, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of this invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for other applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended Within the spirit and meaning of this invention as above set forth and defined in and by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, What I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent of the United States of America is:

1. A prefabricated utility building assembly, comprising, in combination, an upright self supporting skeleton frame structure comprising a pair of rectangular main frames connected spaced from each other in substantially parallel relationship, each of said main frames being formed by a pair of upright beams and a pair of transverse beams extending between and respectively connected to opposite ends of said upright beams, at least one of said main frames further including at least one additional transverse beam located between said pair of transverse beams and connected to said upright beams; at least one substantially upright main water supply conduit extending between said main frames and being fastened thereto; a plurality of secondary supply conduits communicating with said main water supply conduit and extending transversely through the space between said main frames, at least one of said secondary supply conduits having an end portion projecting laterally beyond said frame structure; at least one outlet means and cock means for controlling the same and connected to said end portion of said one secondary supply conduit and located outside said frame structure; at least one outlet means and cock means for controlling the same and connected to another one of said secondary supply conduits and located within the area defined by said one main frame; at least one pair of screw bolts welded to said additional transverse beam and projecting forwardly therefrom, said. pair of screw bolt-s being arranged substantially equally spaced from a vertical line passing through said last mentioned outlet means for fastening a bowl coordinated with said outlet means to said frame structure; at least one substantially upright main drain duct extending between said main frames and being fastened thereto; and a plurality of secondary drain ducts connected to and communicating with said main duct and having open ends .in substantially vertical alignment with said outlet means, whereby a completely prefabricated assembly can be easily adapted to varying specifications.

2. A prefabricated utility building assembly, comprising, in combination, an upright self supporting skeleton frame structure comprising a pair of rectangular main frames connected spaced from each other in substantially parallel relationship, each of said main frames being formed by a pair of upright beams and a pair of trans verse beams extending between and respectively connected to opposite ends of said upright beams, at least one of said main frames further including at least one additional transverse beam located between said pair of transverse beams and connected to said upright beams; a metal screen connected to one of said main frames and extending between said upright and said pair of transverse beams of the same; at least one substantially upright main water supply conduit extending between said main frames and being fastened thereto; a plurality of secondary supply conduits communicating with said main water supply conduit and extending transversely through the space between said main frames, at least one of said secondary supply conduits having an end portion projecting laterally beyond said frame structure; at least one outlet means and cock means for controlling the same and connected to said end portion of said one secondary supply conduit and located outside said frame structure; at least one outlet means and cock means for controlling the same and connected to another one of said secondary supply conduits and located within the area defined by said one main frame, said cock means extending through said metal screen; at least one pair of screw bolts welded to said additional transverse beam and projecting for wardly therefrom, said pair of screw bolts being arranged substantially equally spaced from a vertical line passing through said last mentioned outlet means for fastening a bowl coordinated with said outlet means to said frame structure, said pair of screw bolts extending through said metal screen; at least one substantially upright main drain duct extending between said main frames and being fastened thereto; and a plurality of secondary drain ducts connected to and communicating with said main duct and having open ends in substantially vertical alignment with said outlet means, whereby a completely prefabricated assembly can be easily adapted to varying specifications.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,730,547 10/1929 Wallace 4-3 2,037,895 4/1936 Gugler 4-2 X 2,248,075 7/1941 Groeniger 4-211 2,340,323 2/1944 Groeniger 4-1 2,419,319 3/1947 Lankton 52-27 2,520,658 8/1950 Rheen 117-51 2,562,050 7/1951 Lankton 52-34 2,653,357 9/1953 Sanders et al. 4-2 2,665,454 1/1954 Krenov 52-34 FOREIGN PATENTS 484,777 1953 Italy.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM I. MUSHAKE, JACOB L. NACKENOFF Examiners. 

1. A PREFABRICATED UTILITY BUILDING ASSEMBLY, COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, AN UPRIGHT SELF SUPPORTING SKELETON FRAME STRUCTURE COMPRISING A PAIR OF RECTANGULAR MAIN FRAMES CONNECTED SPACED FROM EACH OTHER IN SUBSTANTIALLY PALLEL RELATIONSHIP, EACH OF SAID MAIN FRAMES BEING FORMED BY A PAIR OF UPRIGHT BEAMS AND A PAIR OF TRANSVERSE BEAMS EXTENDING BETWEEN AND RESPECTIVELY CONNECTED TO OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID UPRIGHT BEAMS, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID MAIN FRAMES FURTHER INCLUDING AT LEAST ONE ADDITIONAL TRANSVERSE BEAM LOCATED BETWEEN SAID PAIR OF TRANSVERSE BEAMS AND CONNECTED TO SAID UPRIGHT BEAMS; AT LEAST ONE SUBSTANTIALLY UPRIGHT MAIN WATER SUPPLY CONDUIT EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID MAIN FRAMES AND BEING FASTENED THERETO; A PLURALITY OF SECONDARY SUPPLY CONDUITS COMMUNICATING WITH SAID MAIN WATER SUPPLY CONDUIT AND EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY THROUGH THE SPACE BETWEEN SAID MAIN FRAMES, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID SECONDARY SUPPLY CONDUITS HAVING AN END PORTION PROJECTING LATERALLY BEYOND SAID FRAME STRUCTURE; AT LEAST ONE OUTLET MEANS AND COCK MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME AND CONNECTED TO SAID END PORTION OF SAID ONE SECONDARY SUPLY CONDUIT AND LOCATED OUTSIDE SAID FRAME STRUCTURE; AT LEAST ONE OUTLET MEANS AND COCK MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME AND CONNECTED TO ANOTHER ONE OF SAID SECONDARY SUPPLY CONDUITS AND LOCATED WITHIN THE AREA DEFINED BY SAID ONE MAIR FRAME; AT LEAST ONE PAIR OF SCREW BOLTS WELDED TO SAID ADDITIONAL TRANSVERSE BEAM AND PROJECTING FORWARDLY THEREFROM, SAID PAIR OF SCREW BOLTS BEING ARRANGED SUBSTANTIALLY EQUALLY SPACED FROM A VERTICAL LINE PASSING THROUGH SAID LAST MENTIONED OUTLET MEANS FOR FASTENING A BOWL COORDINATED WITH SAID OUTLET MEANS TO SAID FRAME STRUCTURE; AT LEAST ONE SUBSTANTIALLY UPRIGHT MAIN DRAIN DUCT EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID MAIN FRAMES AND BEING FASTENED THERETO; AND A PLURALITY OF SECONDARY DRAIN DUCTS CONNECTED TO AND COMMUNICATING WITH SAID MAIN DUCT AND HAVING OPEN ENDS IN SUSBTANTIALLY VERTICAL ALIGNMENT WITH SAID OUTLET MEANS, WHEREBY A COMPLETELY PREFABRICATED ASSEMBLY CAN BE EASILY ADAPTED TO VARYING SPECIFICATIONS. 